JD(U) chief skips RCP’s function amid talks of rift, Nitish says all is well

I have not been invited. I have not received any information or letter regarding the function. So how can I join? I have to go to Jehanabad for an event. I came to know about his visit only through media, JD (U) parliamentary board president Upendra Kushwaha said.

Factionalism within the ruling Janata Dal (United) in Bihar came to the fore on Monday when senior party leaders, including its national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh and party parliamentary board president Upendra Kushwaha, stayed away from the programme organised to felicitate former party president and union minister R C P Singh though chief minister Nitish Kumar, the de facto leader and face of the party, “laughed off speculation” of a rift.

Union steel minister RCP Singh welcome by JD(U) supporters at Patna Airport on Monday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

“I have not been invited. I have not received any information or letter regarding the function. So how can I join? I have to go to Jehanabad for an event. I came to know about his visit only through media,” Kushwaha told reporters.

The former union minister, who joined JD (U) in March this year, however, was quick to add that there was no factionalism in the party. “There is no factionalism in the party. Those who are indulging in such things will fall flat,” he said.

What further fuelled the talks of a rift between RCP and Lalan Singh on Monday was the initial absence of photographs of the party president and parliamentary board president in the posters put up to welcome the newly appointed union minister on his first visit to Patna after his swearing-in. Their pictures were restored only after their supporters raise a hue and cry, party functionaries said.

“The disappearance of Lalan Singh’s picture from the banners and poster made to welcome RCP Singh is intolerable. He is the national president of the party and his role should be understood by everyone,” said Kushwaha.

Lalan Singh was not available for comment.

CM Kumar, meanwhile, dismissed talks of differences in the party as “laughable”.

Referring to the welcome accorded by party workers to RCP Singh in Patna on Monday, Kumar said, “When Lalan Singh arrived in Patna after being made the party president, he was also accorded welcome. Today, the same happened with RCP Singh. Why should there be any differences? When I see such speculation in newspapers, I cannot resist laughing. I was the president. I handed over charge to RCP Singh and when he became union minister, he handed over charge to Lalan Singh,” he said after his weekly “Janata durbar me mukhyamantri” programme.

RCP Singh too was quick to dismiss talks of any rift, saying he has very cordial relations with Lalan Singh. “There is only one leader, Nitish Kumar, in the party. Others work under him,” he said.